Losing your iPhone makes paying off Apple Card a hassle

Apple Card, like any service that lives solely on iPhone, becomes a major inconvenience when a device is lost or stolen, with users in some cases forced to contact customer service to perform essential tasks like paying off their balance.

Apple Card is Apple's answer to traditional and sometimes complicated credit card solutions. It is also a product that promises to make the iPhone and its accompanying iOS device ecosystem much more sticky.

Similar to Apple Pay, Wallet is the hub through which Apple Card functions. From here users can manage card preferences, view recent purchases, peruse past statements, quickly see spending breakdowns, calculate payments and more. And for now, it's only available on iOS.

The process is not only feature-rich, but -- with no alternative means of accessing card data -- extremely secure. Therein lies the rub.

As noted by BuzzFeed News, Apple currently restricts most actions to Wallet, including paying off an existing balance. With no online alternative, misplacing, losing or having an iPhone stolen means users are stripped of access to Apple's lone avenue of account management.

According to an Apple Support representative, Apple Card holders without their primary device can access Wallet on another iOS device or call Apple Support to speak with an Apple Card specialist from card issuer Goldman Sachs. To make a payment, users will need to furnish their name, date of birth, last four digits of their Social Security number and the phone number tied to the account, the report said.

Alternatively, activating payment scheduling can lower the risk of incurring interest charges until the iPhone is returned or a new handset is purchased.

A hassle, yes, but for some the price is worth paying for effective account security.

Apple Card is slowly rolling out to early adopters in the U.S. as part of a product preview that began last week. Launched in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard, Apple's offering is touted as a novel credit card product that offers unique features like Daily Cash and easy to understand payment breakdowns.

I knew they didn’t allow downloads to financial software like Quicken, but I didn’t realize there was absolutely no web access. That’s another turn-off for me. A phone is not the best device for reviewing a month’s worth of purchases, statements, etc.

I use mint which helps me manage my finances and if mint cannot access to Apple Card, then it's a deal-breaker. Glad this was brought to my attention as I don't want credit inquiries reported to credit bureaus affecting my score only to find out it won't offer that crucial feature.

AppleInsider, that YouTube video is inadequate. It's title is "everything you need to know..." but that isn't true. It talks nothing about the most important fundamentals of credit card use -- how to link a bank account to even pay off your Apple Card balance! Please make another video explaining that process in detail. Please also show us how payment scheduling works. These are fundamentals that affect every Apple Card owner, and some of us haven't received our invites yet so we want to learn these details prior to signing up for the card.

I use mint which helps me manage my finances and if mint cannot access to Apple Card, then it's a deal-breaker. Glad this was brought to my attention as I don't want credit inquiries reported to credit bureaus affecting my score only to find out it won't offer that crucial feature.

Good thing you didn’t apply for a credit card without leaning anything about it.

I use mint which helps me manage my finances and if mint cannot access to Apple Card, then it's a deal-breaker. Glad this was brought to my attention as I don't want credit inquiries reported to credit bureaus affecting my score only to find out it won't offer that crucial feature.

Good thing you didn’t apply for a credit card without leaning anything about it.

The ability to download transaction data has become standard throughout the financial industry -- from cards, banks and investment firms.It is so standard and so common that, for most people, its like assuming that the car they are buying has an engine or steering wheel. You shouldn't have to ask.

I use mint which helps me manage my finances and if mint cannot access to Apple Card, then it's a deal-breaker. Glad this was brought to my attention as I don't want credit inquiries reported to credit bureaus affecting my score only to find out it won't offer that crucial feature.

It doesn't. Neither can it download transaction data to Quicken.You are far from alone in that being a deal breaker.

As noted by BuzzFeed News, Apple currently restricts most actions to Wallet, including paying off an existing balance. With no online alternative, misplacing, losing or having an iPhone stolen means users are stripped of access to Apple's lone avenue of account management.

According to an Apple Support representative, Apple Card holders without their primary device can access Wallet on another iOS device or call Apple Support to speak with an Apple Card specialist from card issuer Goldman Sachs. To make a payment, users will need to furnish their name, date of birth, last four digits of their Social Security number and the phone number tied to the account, the report said.

...

In addition to the lack of support for Quicken, that is another deal breaker for me. I prefer to pay bills by having my bank perform an ACH transaction for the specified amount. Plus, I avoid linking in any way my bank account to anything -- even my iPhone.

I think it would be great if paying through your phone was an option. But making it the ONLY option is pretty restrictive.

One, Apple notifies you (I assume, via email). Two, you can do it though your iPad, if needed. Three, I am sure one should be able to set up a payment via the Bill Pay feature in one’s bank account.

I’m not seeing an option for the starting with your bank to pay card balances but you can setup recurring payments in the wallet.

Go into Wallet-Click the apple card-select the three ... and then select BANK ACCOUNTSjust enter your banks routing information and account number, save and its there. You can add multiple bank accounts. the card arrives in about 4 days.

AppleInsider, that YouTube video is inadequate. It's title is "everything you need to know..." but that isn't true. It talks nothing about the most important fundamentals of credit card use -- how to link a bank account to even pay off your Apple Card balance! Please make another video explaining that process in detail. Please also show us how payment scheduling works. These are fundamentals that affect every Apple Card owner, and some of us haven't received our invites yet so we want to learn these details prior to signing up for the card.

Thank you.

Go into Wallet-Click the apple card-select the three ... and then select BANK ACCOUNTSjust enter your banks routing information and account number, save and its there. You can add multiple bank accounts. the card arrives in about 4 days.

I'd think it wouldn't be too hard to find the physical address of the payment center that handles your account. Apple may provide that information once the card roll out is finished, though they certainly want to promoted doing everything from your phone.

I'd be interested in somebody with the card reviewing what accessing Setting > Wallet on an iPad reveals. I'd like to see Apple put the Wallet app on the iPad (along with the Activity app).

I think this is infomercial level of inconvenience, and while accurate, it borders on FUD. For 99.993146% of users, the loss of the phone far outweighs the possibility of not making a credit card payment.

Bank auto-bill pay? Not on my dressing. First, picking a value for the minimum payment will vary with the balance. Second, it's not a consideration if you don't carry a balance, which at many of the interest rates being given, would be prudent. Third, while I use auto-bill pay for subscriptions and paying off the monthly balance on my cards, I'd never allow a company or corporation (except my bank, natch) to debit my account. I tell my bank who to pay and how much and they just do it. I've heard to many horror stories about companies accidentally double or triple billing, or failing to cancel billing when a customer terminated a service. So I'll just avoid those hoops from the jump.

I have a spare backup phone, should disaster strike. What I don't know is if activating it and signing into iCloud gets me all my Wallet information. Of all the things to worry about, this is not on my Worry List.

Bank auto-bill pay? Not on my dressing. First, picking a value for the minimum payment will vary with the balance. Second, it's not a consideration if you don't carry a balance, which at many of the interest rates being given, would be prudent. Third, while I use auto-bill pay for subscriptions and paying off the monthly balance on my cards, I'd never allow a company or corporation (except my bank, natch) to debit my account. I tell my bank who to pay and how much and they just do it. I've heard to many horror stories about companies accidentally double or triple billing, or failing to cancel billing when a customer terminated a service. So I'll just avoid those hoops from the jump.

Of course auto-pay is an option if you don’t carry a balance. You might not want to use it, but all my credit cards have been on auto pay (for “statement balance”) for years.